GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - Men's soccer finished their back to back to back series of road games with a 4-2 loss to Aquinas College in Grand Rapids, MI. The Maple Leafs held steady with the Saints to start the match, going into the halftime break tied at 1-1, but a few mistakes from the Leafs backline allowed Aquinas to pull ahead.
The first goal of the match came in the 14th minute from Evan Goodfellow, with an assist from Marcos Real. However, the Leafs were quick to answer, with Diogo Coelho picking up his first goal of the season just six minutes later off the assist from Roberto Sanchez Brito.
The action wasn't over for the half though, as the Leafs gave up a penalty kick with less than three minutes remaining until the break. However, this wasn't the decisive push that the Saints were hoping for, as Matias Labbe made a massive save to keep the scoreline even headed into the half. This was one of his seven saves on the match.
When the teams retook the field, the Saints came out very strong from the break. They scored just three minutes after the restart with a goal from Fikret Hasovic, and then followed that up about exactly ten minutes later with a goal from Marcos Real to try and close the door on the Leafs. Even beyond that, the Saints then scored again just a hair over a minute later with a goal from Maurice Chandler — which was also partially assisted by Marcos Real.
The Leafs were not deterred though, as David Hidalgo Muniáin picked up his first goal of the season with a beautiful finish in the 83rd minute to try and bring GC back into the fight. He was assisted by Felipe Silva. Though they were unable to score again, they did finish the last seven minutes with a renewed vigor and had at least one other chance during that time.
The Maple Leafs are back in action at home once again on Saturday, Sep. 12 at 3 to take on the Judson Eagles.
